...but thought it'd be better not to flag this up with its own thread, bearing in mind the extreme reactions others in this series have been given. (This way, we can quietly tuck it away.) This time, my query is genuine. To anyone familiar with the music they play, what is the appeal of this band?

This vein of criticim is a bit shit really. Have you never liked two bands that actually sound quite similar to each other? You've pretty much pointed out the biggest flaw in your criticim anyway. Yes, it's quite likely that a whole lot of under 25's have never really heard much C86 stuff, so TPOBPAH won't be a 'pallid' copyjob to them. That's the appeal.

And that's one of the turns of phrase that marks you out for so much abuse. If you were more savage in your criticism of the bands that people here like, you'd probably get a whole lot less stick. But it's the laughably (presumed) high-and-mighty tone of the question'why would anyone like this band? What is their appeal exactly?' that gets people.

...because they're wholesale ripping off other records other people won't have heard? Fair enough, sort of. When I was a teenager I loved The Jam (still do), little realising how great a debt they owed to the Who (in particular).

I'm all for the argument that if something's current then it excuses most sins, it's just that TPOBPAH are so blatant and - yes, so tame - in the way they copy their sources. I love Vivian Girls because I think they add something to the originals (even though they too sound v similar). Maybe it's just cos I never really got The Smiths first time around

and, prior to listening to them, had very little knowledge or experience of C86 stuff. I've had a listen to The Field Mice since and quite like them. If these late 80s bands really are worth canonising, TPOBPAH are doing them a great service.

To be honest, I only don't like a rip-off if it's a bad rip-off. The fact that it is (supposedly) a rip-off doesn't bother me in itself.

Me, too. That's where we differ on TPOBPAH. I don't think it's a good rip-off. Oh, and be warned: tons of those mid-t-late 80s bands totally AREN'T worth canonising. it just happens to be one of my eras of music.

Why is that high-and-mighty? I think you're reading too much into it. I'm just genuinely perplexed that folk would listen to something that amounts to the equivalent of Bjorn Again and ABBA or The Bootleg Beatles and The Beatles. (I mean, I've actually seen both tribute bands perform live and thoroughly enjoyed them - but I sure as fuck wouldn't listen to them on record.)

Most intelligent people don't care that someone doesn't agree with them on music. But seeing as you can like a band just because you do there is something, for me at least, quite annoying about being asked how on Earth you could bring yourself to listen to a band or type of music.

And again, plenty of people who liked ABBA when they first started releasing records like Bjorn Again.

i'm not too fussed that they sound like so much that has come before...it's just that album is so lacking in heart for all its emotional posturing...aping that sound and style, i should love that album but it leaves me completely cold...i'm not even sure why, it just does absolutely nothing for me.

let's wrestle...now that...THAT is how an indie pop album should be done......TPOBPAH is nothing in comparison.